The present invention relates to a recording medium accommodating case. More specifically, the invention relates to a novel recording medium accommodating case capable of storing a plurality of kinds of recording media such as an optical disk, e.g. a digital versatile disk (DVD), a memory cartridge or the like, and a booklet such as an instruction manual, etc.
Japanese Patent Laying-open No. 11-59761 [B65D85/57] (Prior art 1) laid-open on Mar. 2, 1999, discloses an accommodating case capable of accommodating a plurality of kinds of recording media such as a disk, a cartridge and etc. This Prior art 1 is concerned with a disk storage case provided with an optical disk storing portion on a case main body and a floppy disk storage portion on a lid.
Additionally, Japanese Patent Laying-open No. 7-44020 [B65D85/57] (Prior art 2) laid-open on Oct. 24, 1995, discloses a disk storage case designed to prevent the disk to fall. Prior art 2 includes sandwiching protrusions on both of a case main body and a lid in such a manner as to sandwich or clamp a non-signal portion on an outer peripheral portion of the disk from both surfaces when the lid is closed.
In Prior art 1, the center hole of the optical disk is held on the case main body by forcedly inserting a holding protrusion thereinto. It has a disadvantage that a holding force for holding the optical disk decreases due to frictional wear or the like if the optical disk is frequently attached and detached. Furthermore, there was also a problem that the optical disk or the floppy disk easily falls out of the holding portion due to an impact caused when storing and carrying the case, thereby causing a surface flaw or a deformation of the disk.
In Prior art 2, the disk is clamped in a state wherein the lid is closed, and therefore, there was a possibility that the disk would fall out of the case and be damaged. This damage may be caused by carelessness when the disk is retrieved by opening the lid or when the disk is stored. Furthermore, the clamping protrusion formed on the lid is not made to serve the multiple purpose of storing a booklet such as an instruction manual. In the case where a booklet storage portion is to be separately formed, there is a problem that the number of parts or items increases, hence resulting in increased cost.
Therefore, it is a feature of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention to provide a novel recording medium accommodating case.
It is another feature of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention to provide a recording medium accommodating case capable of preventing a recording medium from falling out of a holding portion, and serving the multiple purposes of preventing the recording medium from falling and holding a booklet.
It is still another feature of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention to provide a recording medium accommodating case capable of preventing deterioration of the holding force of the recording medium.
A recording medium accommodating case according to an exemplary embodiment comprises a main body formed with a disk storage area capable of storing a disk having thereon a center hole and a cartridge storage area capable of storing a cartridge; a lid having a booklet storage area capable of storing a booklet; and a joint portion which joins the main body and the lid to each other, wherein the main body and the lid are freely opened and closed in a state where both are facing each other.
The disk storage area includes a protrusion, a supporting portion and a disk fall preventive portion. The protrusion is engaged in the center hole of the disk. The supporting portion comes into contact with one main surface of the disk to support the disk. The disk fall preventive portion is formed in an outwardly projecting manner from an upper side surface of the protrusion, and engaged in the center hole of the disk.
The cartridge storage area includes a cartridge holding portion and a cartridge fall preventive portion. The cartridge holding portion is brought into contact to a side surface of the cartridge to hold the cartridge. The cartridge fall preventive portion is formed in such a manner as to be projected toward an inner peripheral surface of the cartridge holding portion.
A booklet holding portion is formed on the booklet storage area. The booklet holding portion has a space for storing and holding the booklet in a direction of a thickness of the lid, facing the disk storage area.
Furthermore, when the main body and the lid are closed, the booklet holding portion faces the other main surface of the disk thus preventing the disk from falling.
The aforementioned protrusion includes a first protrusion formed in a fixed manner and a second protrusion formed in an elastically deformable manner, and the disk fall preventive portion is formed on an upper side surface of the second protrusion.
Furthermore, the booklet holding portion is constituted in such a manner as to have a ribbon-shaped portion facing a portion of the disk storage area when the main body and the lid are closed.
In a preferred embodiment, the booklet holding portion is made to be detachable against the booklet storage area, and includes a ribbon-shaped portion having engaging claws formed at both end portions thereof, and being deformable in a width direction of the booklet storage area. In the booklet storage area, engaging holes engaged with the engaging claws are formed. In addition, by making the engaging claws of the ribbon-shaped portion and the engaging holes to be engaged with each other, the booklet holding portion is attached to the booklet storage area.
Furthermore, the supporting portion is constituted by a ring-shaped first supporting portion having a diameter bigger than that of the center hole of the disk and smaller than that of an outer periphery of the disk, and a second supporting portion brought into contact to at least a portion of the outer periphery of the disk.
In addition, the second supporting portion is formed with a first supporting wall abutting on a portion of an outer peripheral side surface of the disk, and a second supporting wall lower in height than the first supporting wall and abutting on an outer peripheral edge of one main surface of the disk.
According to an exemplary embodiment, it is possible to prevent a recording medium from falling out of the holding portion when holding the recording medium such as a disk, thus making it possible to obtain a recording medium accommodating case capable of serving the multiple purposes of preventing a recording medium from falling and holding a booklet.
In addition, according to a preferred embodiment, the recording medium is not subjected to pressure, thus preventing deterioration of the holding force of the recording medium.